Box Score Columbia, Mo. - The Lady Cougar basketball team fell to Lindenwood University-Belleville by a score of 79-74 in their home opener on Monday night. The loss Columbia, ranked 13^th in the NAIA Preseason Top 25 Poll, drops to 1-1 overall on the young season.

After falling behind 9-0 to begin the first half, the Lady Cougars battled back to take a 20-19 lead with 8:15 to play in the opening period. The lead would change hands four times over the remainder of the frame, with the Lady Lynx taking a 39-34 advantage into the halftime break. Heather English led all scorers with 12 points at the break, but Columbia shot just 35 percent from the field and connected on just 2 of 11 attempts from behind the three-point line.

Lindenwood-Belleville would stretch their lead out to ten points in the opening minutes of the second half, but the Lady Cougars would once again fight their way back and pull within three at 61-58 on a three-point play by Ashley Fisher. Trailing 70-63 with just under six minutes to play, Columbia used an 8-0 run to take their first lead since midway through the first half as Tierney Seifert capped off the run with a breakaway layup. However, the Lady Lynx responded with a 7-1 run of their own during the next three minutes to take the lead for good and hang on for the win.

The Lady Cougars finished at 41 percent (27 of 65) from the field on the night, led by English with a game-high 21 points. Corri Hamilton contributed 12 points and nine rebounds off the bench for Columbia, while Kayla Washington and Laurel Wichmann added 10 points apiece. Diamond Burt narrowly missed out on a triple-double with 14 points, 12 rebounds, and nine assists for Lindenwood-Belleville.

The Lady Cougars will be idle until Friday, November 22^nd when they travel to Leavenworth, Kan. to take on Ottawa University. Game time is scheduled for 6:00 p.m.